house wear, by
adults of both sexes. From this period dates also, no doubt, that style
of "peasant dress" which can be seen occasionally, in unfashionable
summer resorts, on girls not of the highest class by any means, and
which the city shops furnish in abundance as genuine to misguided
foreigners. Every one is familiar with these fantastic combinations of
colored lace insertion with bands of blue cotton worked in high colors,
and fashioned into blouses and aprons such as no peasant maid ever wore
or beheld.

What strikes one very forcibly about Russian children, when one sees
them at play in the parks, is their quiet, self-possessed manners and
their lack of boisterousness. If they were inclined to scream, to fling
themselves about wildly and be rude, they would assuredly be checked
promptly and effectually, since the rights of grown people to peace,
respect, and the pursuit of happiness are still recognized in that land.
But, from my observation of the same qualities in untutored peasant
children, I am inclined to think that Russian children are born more
agreeable than Western children; yet they seem to be as cheerful and
lively as is necessary, and in no way restricted. Whistling, howling,
stamping, and kindred muscular exercises begin just over the Western
frontier, and increase in violence as one proceeds westward, until Japan
is reached, or possibly the Sandwich Islands, by which time, I am told,
one enters the Orient and the realm of peace once more.

What noise we heard in Tzarskoe came from quite another quarter. As we
were strolling in the park one afternoon, we heard sounds of uproarious
mirth proceeding from the little island in the private imperial garden,
where the Duchess of Edinburgh, in her girlhood, had a pretty Russian
cottage, cow-stalls, and so forth, with flower and potato beds. She and
her brothers were in the habit of planting their pussy willows, received
on Palm Sunday, on the bank of the stream, and these, duly labeled, have
now grown into a hedge of trees. The screen is not perfect, however, and
glimpses of the playground are open to the public across the narrow
stream. On this summer afternoon, there was a party of royalties on the
island, swinging on the Giant Steps. The Giant Steps, I must explain,
consist of a tall, stout mast firmly planted in the earth, bound with
iron at the top, and upholding a thick iron ring to which are attached
heavy cables which touch the ground. The game con